The pancreas of a normal healthy person produces and releases insulin into the blood stream in response to elevated blood plasma glucose levels. Beta cells (β-cells), which reside in the pancreas, produce and secrete the insulin into the blood stream, as it is needed. If β-cells become incapacitated or die (Type I diabetes mellitus), or in some cases, if β-cells produce insufficient quantities of insulin (Type II diabetes), then insulin must be provided to the body from another source.
Traditionally, since insulin cannot be taken orally, insulin has been injected with a syringe. More recently, the use of infusion pump therapy has been increasing, especially for delivering insulin for diabetics. For example, external infusion pumps are worn on a belt, in a pocket, or the like, and deliver insulin into the body via an infusion tube with a percutaneous needle or a cannula placed in the subcutaneous tissue. Physicians have recognized that continuous infusion provides greater control of a diabetic's condition, and are increasingly prescribing it for patients.
Infusion pump devices and systems are relatively well-known in the medical arts for use in delivering or dispensing a prescribed medication, such as insulin, to a patient. In one form, such devices comprise a relatively compact pump housing adapted to receive a syringe or reservoir carrying a prescribed medication for administration to the patient through infusion tubing and an associated catheter or infusion set. Programmable controls can operate the infusion pump continuously or at periodic intervals to obtain a closely controlled and accurate delivery of the medication over an extended period of time. Such infusion pumps are used to administer insulin and other medications, with exemplary pump constructions being shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,562,751; 4,678,408; 4,685,903; 5,080,653; and 5,097,122, which are incorporated by reference herein.
There is a baseline insulin need for each body which, in diabetic individuals, may generally be maintained by administration of a basal amount of insulin to the patient on a continual, or continuous, basis using infusion pumps. However, when additional glucose (i.e., beyond the basal level) appears in a diabetic individual's body, such as, for example, when the individual consumes a meal, the amount and timing of the insulin to be administered must be determined so as to adequately account for the additional glucose while, at the same time, avoiding infusion of too much insulin. Typically, a bolus amount of insulin is administered to compensate for meals (i.e., meal bolus). It is common for diabetics to determine the amount of insulin that they may need to cover an anticipated meal based on carbohydrate content of the meal.
Over the years, a variety of electrochemical glucose sensors have been developed for use in obtaining an indication of blood glucose levels in a diabetic patient. Such readings are useful in monitoring and/or adjusting a treatment regimen which typically includes the regular administration of insulin to the patient. Generally, small and flexible electrochemical sensors can be used to obtain periodic readings over an extended period of time. In one form, flexible subcutaneous sensors are constructed in accordance with thin film mask techniques. Typical thin film sensors are described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,671; 5,391,250; 5,482,473; and 5,586,553 which are incorporated by reference herein. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,571.
These electrochemical sensors have been applied in a telemetered characteristic monitor system. As described, e.g., in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,653, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, the telemetered system includes a remotely located data receiving device, a sensor for producing signals indicative of a characteristic of a user, and a transmitter device for processing signals received from the sensor and for wirelessly transmitting the processed signals to the remotely located data receiving device. The data receiving device may be a characteristic monitor, a data receiver that provides data to another device, an RF programmer, a medication delivery device (such as an infusion pump), or the like.
Regardless of whether the data receiving device (e.g., a glucose monitor), the transmitter device, and the sensor (e.g., a glucose sensor) communicate wirelessly or via an electrical wire connection, a characteristic monitoring system of the type described above is of practical use only after it has been calibrated based on the unique characteristics of the individual user. Accordingly, the user is required to externally calibrate the sensor. More specifically, a diabetic patient is required to utilize a finger-stick blood glucose meter reading an average of two-four times per day for the duration that the characteristic monitor system is used. Each time, blood is drawn from the user's finger and analyzed by the blood glucose meter to provide a real-time blood sugar level for the user. The user then inputs this data into the glucose monitor as the user's current blood sugar level which is used to calibrate the glucose monitoring system.
Such external calibrations, however, are disadvantageous for various reasons. For example, blood glucose meters include inherent margins of error and only provide discrete readings at one point in time per use. Moreover, even if completely accurate, blood glucose meters are cumbersome to use (e.g., one should not operate an automobile and take a finger stick meter reading at the same time) and are also susceptible to improper use. Furthermore, there is a cost, not to mention pain and discomfort, associated with each application of the finger stick. Thus, finger stick replacement remains a goal for the next generation of glucose monitoring systems.
As sensor technology improves, there is greater desire to use the sensor values to control the infusion of insulin in a closed-loop system (i.e., an artificial pancreas system). Specifically, a closed-loop system for diabetes includes a glucose sensor and an insulin infusion pump attached to the patient, wherein the delivery of insulin is automatically administered by the controller of the infusion pump—rather than by the user/patient—based on the sensor's glucose value readings. The benefits of a closed-loop system are several-fold, including tighter glycemic control during the night when the majority of hypoglycemic events occur.
An accurate and reliable sensor has long been identified as a necessity for closed-loop realization. Glucose sensor technology has been evolving in an effort to meet the accuracy required for fingerstick replacement and the reliability needed for consistent closed-loop functionality. Several types of technology are available, with two of the most common and developed being electrochemical sensing, as noted above, and optical sensing. See FIGS. 46A and 46B.
To offer improved performance, the possibility of redundant electrodes has been explored and shown to provide a benefit. For example, previous studies in the literature have reported using two implanted glucose electrodes to simultaneously monitor glucose levels in rat tissue combined with a signal processing algorithm. These studies demonstrated that the overall glucose measurement accuracy could be improved over that of a single sensor. However, while it may provide for improved accuracy, such simple redundancy may not provide the reliability necessary for closed-loop applications.
Since the closed-loop system replaces the patient as the decision-making element, a reliable system must typically deliver reliable data and have error detecting functionality, enabling the closed-loop system to take action on erroneous data. Such data may be caused by drift, noise, or temporary or permanent malfunction of the sensor, often due to the implanted environment's effect on sensors. Actions may vary from simply prompting the patient to calibrate the system to terminating the sensor and requesting insertion of a new sensor. With identical sensor configurations, the redundant elements are similarly affected by environmental conditions and therefore could simultaneously present erroneous data.
Thus, although recent advances in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology have offered several benefits for easier and more effective glycemic control in diabetes management, further improvements such as improved sensor accuracy and reliability, reduced number of blood glucose calibrations, improved specificity, and improved comfort during sensor insertion and wear are still desirable.